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#1
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Trying to find resources on tanker history
I would be very greatful if anyone could point me to a good online resource on the history of tankers and air-refueling. Here is a very nice photo of a KC135 refueling a Raptor I came by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:U...135.750pix.jpg Regards... |
#2
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Bjørnar Bolsøy wrote:
I would be very greatful if anyone could point me to a good online resource on the history of tankers and air-refueling. Start here http://globalsecurity.org/military/s...aft/tanker.htm -HJC |
#3
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Henry J Cobb wrote in
: Bjørnar Bolsøy wrote: I would be very greatful if anyone could point me to a good online resource on the history of tankers and air-refueling. Start here http://globalsecurity.org/military/s...aft/tanker.htm A thousend thank's. It soon led me to this: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/tanker.htm In 1921, stunt pilot, Wesley May, put on a "refueling" demonstration for a crowd at Long Beach, California. May strapped a gas can to his back and walked out to the wing tip of his Lincoln Standard biplane, stepped onto the wing skid of a Curtis JN-4 and poured five gallons of fuel into the Jenny's tank. This feat was proclaimed the first "air-to-air" refueling. Regards... |
#4
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The British were into aerial refueling first, if you don't count the Piper Cubs that used to stay up for days during the Great Depression, for the very good reason that British aircraft didn't have the range to cross the Atlantic. The USAAF began mucking about with it at Wright Field in 1944 by passing drop-tanks from a B-24 to a P-38, in preparation for raids on Japan. (The twin-fuse Mustang came out of the same need.) The USAF got serious in 1948 as the Cold War began to percolate into consciousness. The British by this time were actually using the "crossover system" on trial flights London-Montreal. Each plane trailed a cable with a grappling hook. The tanker moved left, crossing over the recipient aircraft and engaging the hooks. The recipient reeled them in, followed by the hose from the tanker. The British also came up with the probe & drogue system, which I think is what Wright Field was experimenting with in 1948. all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com |
#5
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In message , Cub Driver
writes The British were into aerial refueling first, if you don't count the Piper Cubs that used to stay up for days during the Great Depression, for the very good reason that British aircraft didn't have the range to cross the Atlantic. The USAAF began mucking about with it at Wright Field in 1944 by passing drop-tanks from a B-24 to a P-38, in preparation for raids on Japan. (The twin-fuse Mustang came out of the same need.) The USAF got serious in 1948 as the Cold War began to percolate into consciousness. The British by this time were actually using the "crossover system" on trial flights London-Montreal. Each plane trailed a cable with a grappling hook. The tanker moved left, crossing over the recipient aircraft and engaging the hooks. The recipient reeled them in, followed by the hose from the tanker. The British also came up with the probe & drogue system, which I think is what Wright Field was experimenting with in 1948. The OP might google for a Brit company called 'Flight Refuelling'. Mike -- M.J.Powell |
#6
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"Cub Driver" wrote in message ... The British were into aerial refueling first, if you don't count the Piper Cubs that used to stay up for days during the Great Depression, for the very good reason that British aircraft didn't have the range to cross the Atlantic. The USAAF began mucking about with it at Wright Field in 1944 by passing drop-tanks from a B-24 to a P-38, in preparation for raids on Japan. (The twin-fuse Mustang came out of the same need.) The USAF got serious in 1948 as the Cold War began to percolate into consciousness. The British by this time were actually using the "crossover system" on trial flights London-Montreal. Each plane trailed a cable with a grappling hook. The tanker moved left, crossing over the recipient aircraft and engaging the hooks. The recipient reeled them in, followed by the hose from the tanker. The British also came up with the probe & drogue system, which I think is what Wright Field was experimenting with in 1948. Is it still the case that the USN uses the trailing drogue (as the RAF/RN do), with the USAF using the tanker to steer the probe? If so, why the different approaches? |
#7
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"Ian" wrote in message ... Is it still the case that the USN uses the trailing drogue (as the RAF/RN do), with the USAF using the tanker to steer the probe? If so, why the different approaches? The flying boom method has a higher transfer rate but probe and drogue can be fitted to buddy tankers. Keith |
#8
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Keith Willshaw wrote:
"Ian" wrote in message ... Is it still the case that the USN uses the trailing drogue (as the RAF/RN do), with the USAF using the tanker to steer the probe? If so, why the different approaches? The flying boom method has a higher transfer rate but probe and drogue can be fitted to buddy tankers. Right. Originally (1950s) SAC used the boom method, while TAC used probe and drogue on their fighters (KB-50P? tankers), starting with F-84s. There were air-refueled test combat missions flown during the Korean War using KB-29 tankers; the F-84s couldn't be given airframe mounted probes in a hurry, so were given drop (tip) tanks fitted with a probe on the front (a method that has recently been revived to allow F-16s to refuel from drogue-equipped tankers). There was no internal transfer possible, so the procedure was to refuel one drop tank to about half full, disconnect, reposition for the other tank and fill it full, then disconnect and reposition on the original tank and fill it the rest of the way. Filling one tank completely first resulted in too much lateral assymetry for the ailerons to compensate. F-100s, F-104Cs and EB-66s all had probes. At the end of the 1950s SAC and TAC were both operating versions of the F-101, so that a/c was given both types of refueling capability (and had the room). The F-105B had the probe, but the D model was eventually given both methods. After that the USAF decided to go over completely to the boom/receptacle method, as their tankers would (presumably) always have airbases to operate from, just as their fighters and bombers would. The boom gives better transfer rates and seems to be more reliable and easier to tank from, but it does limit the types of a/c that can be tankers, and it requires a lot more money and work to convert. Guy |
#9
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"M. J. Powell" wrote:
snip The OP might google for a Brit company called 'Flight Refuelling'. Now Cobham PLC after Sir Alan Cobham, who did most of the early refueling work and started Flight Refueling Ltd. Guy |
#10
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Guy Alcala wrote:
After that the USAF decided to go over completely to the boom/receptacle method, as their tankers would (presumably) always have airbases to operate from, just as their fighters and bombers would. The boom gives better transfer rates and seems to be more reliable and easier to tank from, but it does limit the types of a/c that can be tankers, and it requires a lot more money and work to convert. Will the F-35B be the first USAF aircraft since then to be built with just a probe? -HJC |
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